


But you don't look like a nerd

by evanamon



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Cosplay, Gen, Hacking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-17 09:49:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29590968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evanamon/pseuds/evanamon
Summary: Tony catches Darcy hacking into his files, but it's not what it looks like.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 52





	1. What'cha doing short stack?

**Author's Note:**

> Hi folks,
> 
> This is a work in progress and my first attempt at writing fiction in a long long while. Please be gentle.
> 
> I'm using a lot of technical terms here but there'll be a glossary at the end. Let me know in the comments if there's anything I missed.
> 
> Totes,  
> Evanamon

It was the two o'clock lull that got Darcy in trouble. She'd fed Jane a poptart and cup of coffee for lunch so she'd be good for a few more hours. Darcy powered through the data entry on her own lunch break so there was no paperwork to distract her. It's not like anyone was monitoring her internet access to make sure she only used her work computer for work.

She couldn't get the arm guards right. The first pair of gloves she'd ordered weren't the right shade of red so she resigned herself to making her own, but she needed a more detailed photo of the originals. She combed through press photos but she couldn't find a detailed image; Tony never held still for a photo. She jumped over Instagram hoping for a closeup with a fan but no dice.

This is ridiculous, she worked in the Avengers tower! The suit was ten floors above her, but there was no way she, a lowly lab assistant, could get access to it. So close and yet so far. But maybe there was another way. 

Half an hour later, Darcy, still at her computer, chewed on her fingernail as she Googled the latest error message. She was so focused on her task that she missed the engineer come up behind her.

"What'cha doing short stack?" 

Darcy startled hard, almost knocking over her now cool cup of coffee. Shit. Shit. FuckFuckFuck. She'd been lazy about covering her tracks. He must have traced her IP address back to the lab. Oh fuck it, I'm caught, she thought to herself, maybe I can charm him enough that he wouldn't have me fired and thrown out on my ass.

"I'm trying to install your rendering program from your git repo", she admitted, not looking up from her task. "Where did you develop this? Half of the dependencies are 5 years old and the rest are still in alpha. It's a mess to get them all in the right state," not taking her eyes off the screen, afraid of the look on Tony's face.

"It works fine on my machine because I'm the only one who needs to run it" Tony shot back. "I'll ask it again, what are you doing?" Out of the corner of her eye, Darcy saw Tony cross his arms.

"I need to know what your gauntlets look like" she finally answered.

"You need to know what my gauntlets look like so you hacked into my VPN and downloaded the schematics." he sputtered.

"You should really patch those security holes, but kudos for shitty package management. I have the files but I can't look at them. Security through obscurity," she raised her arms in a mock cheer.

"I shouldn't have to patch the security holes, it's on its own network that no one else can access" his voice rising. Taking a deep breath, he continued, "Look, FRIDAY is working on locking everything down again. If you can just tell me why you're digging through my files we can pretend that I didn't have my ass handed to me by a lab assistant and we can all go back to work."

Darcy finally shifted focus from her computer screen. She briefly made eye contact with Tony's stony face before studying her shoes and biting her bottom lip.

"If you're not going to tell me, I'll have to get SHIELD involved. The exact details in those schematics are a matter of national security" he prodded.

Darcy winced and took a deep breath. Her carefully guarded personal life was about to bleed over into her work. "It's for a cosplay" she muttered.


	2. I don't buy it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony doesn't believe Darcy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm reading the feedback and y'all shouldn't have. No really, you shouldn't have. This was supposed to be some obscure thing that only three people ever read and no one cared about. Now there are Expectations. I hope I can do them justice.
> 
> We've acquired a chapter count that may or may not change.

"You want to run that by me again?" Tony deadpanned.

"It's for a cosplay." Darcy repeated more clearly.

Tony took a step back and gave her a once over and then began rifling through the office supplies on her desk. Darcy scooted her chair back trying to stay out of his way. 

"I don't buy it," Tony started, still looking under the accumulated papers. "Your t-shirt lacks an ironic slogan, you don't have any of those plastic dolls, there aren't even any stickers on your laptop." He turned to make eye contact with her again, pointing, "you, short stack, are not a cosplaying nerd. What's really going on here are you some kind of HYDRA spy?"

Darcy crossed her arms and returned his stare; her foot began tapping on the floor, "Look, I screwed up, you caught me, you don't have to be a dick about it. I'll stay out of your files," she huffed.

"I was serious about SHIELD and national security" Tony returned, "I need to know what's really going on here"

"I told you," Darcy's voice rose. "I needed to know what the gauntlets looked like for a historically accurate Victorian Ironman bustle dress that I'm making for Hero Con". She tried to unclench her fists, getting angry wasn't going to help her here.

"I know what most of those words mean but not in that order. I've been to Hero Con, Stark Industry's philanthropic organization auctions off meet and greet tickets for charity. They make me hang out with the nerds in their homemade Ironman costumes for a good cause. I've never seen anyone there that looks like you" Tony crossed his arms in challenge.

Darcy swiftly got to her feet, "I have had enough of your gatekeeping bullshit! Just because I don't catalog and collect and live and breath fandom on all of my visible surfaces does not mean I don't belong. Just because I don't look the way you expect me to, does not mean I don't belong. I pour hours of my time and energy into creating something new out of something I love and I belong just as much as the next person." She paused to take a deep breath. Shit, I wasn't supposed to get angry.

Tony put his hands out in a placating gesture. "Wait, wait, I'm sorry that I judged you. There's clearly more going on here than I originally thought but I really need more proof before I can call off the dogs."

Darcy huffed and pulled out her phone. Opening up Instagram, she ignored the puppy at the top of her feed and quickly switched to her second account, mrs_darcy. Tony appeared over her shoulder as she tapped into her profile. 

"Here", she said, "this most recent post is the muslin for the bustle". 

Tony raised an eyebrow confused. 

"The prototype for the skirt of the dress", she scrolled down, "and here's a video of me unboxing the fabric", one more post down, "and here's some concept art from a friend".

Tony grabbed her phone.

"Hey, give that back!" she screeched, grabbing for her phone.

Tony ignored her and kept scrolling. "I don't know much about historical women's clothing but this looks like some professional stuff, where did you learn to do this?" the previous conversation about SHIELD and homeland security now forgotten.

"My name is Darcy. My mom and I spent every summer at Jane Austen events when I was growing up. I've been making historical costumes since I was old enough to use a sewing machine. I started branching out in the last few years." She softened.

Tony kept scrolling.

"Do you believe me now?" Darcy asked, trying to get Tony's attention.

Tony looked up. "Yea, I believe you. I'm sorry I judged you so harshly, this clearly means a lot to you". He handed Darcy her phone back and then pulled out his own and began tapping, without making eye contact, Tony continued, "I'm calling off the dogs. FRIDAY has patched the holes you got in through. You already have the files and the code downloaded, let me help you get the renderer setup so you can finish your project." He finally looked up and gave her a conciliatory smile.

Peace offer accepted. Darcy celebrated internally. Oh shit, I just yelled at my boss's boss's boss how am I not fired? Why is he helping me? Why am I looking this gift horse in the mouth?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's time for me to fess up: this is inspired by Costuming Drama's Ironman dress. Go check her out on Instagram and YouTube, she's awesome.

**Author's Note:**

> Glossary:
> 
> IP address - a way to uniquely identify a computer on a network  
> git repo - a place to store source code  
> dependencies - other bits of code that your code needs to run, they are often versioned  
> alpha - code that's not ready for release  
> VPN - virtual private network, a separate, usually more secure, network


End file.
